George Karl makes another return to Milwaukee as his Kings take on the Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday night in an east vs. west showdown. The Bucks looks to take advantage with a victory without Kings all-star Center Demarcus Cousins playing.

Probable Kings Starters

G Rajon Rondo, 6-1, Kentucky

G Ben McLemore, 6-5, Kansas

F Rudy Gay, 6-8, Connecticut

F Omri Casspi, 6-9, Israel

C Willie Cauley- Stein, Kentucky

About The Kings

The story of the Sacramento Kings over the past few years has been mediocracy as in many cases they have the players to be a playoff team but lack a coach. This year they have a coach, George Karl, who is one of the winningest coaches in NBA history but far below .500 and are currently 1-3 on its Eastern Conference road trip. They also took a big blow to their team when their all-star center and franchise player Demarcus Cousins went down with a back injury in the third quarter of their 127-122 overtime loss to Charlotte on Monday. Without Cousins who is averaging 28 points and 11 rebounds a game so far this season the Kings will heavily lack their most consistent scoring and defensive option. They still have point guard Rajon Rondo who has seen a resurgence of his career in Sacramento tallying up four triple-doubles so far this season, as well their athletic shooting two-way combination of Ben McLemore and Rudy Gay who can have big game at any time. They also have viable shooting options off their bench in former three-point champion Marco Belinelli, Darren Collison and former Buck and Racine native Caron Butler.

Probable Bucks Starters

G Michael Carter-Williams, 6-6, Syracuse

G Khris Middleton, 6-8, Texas A&M

F Giannis Antetokounmpo, 6-11, Greece

F Jabari Parker, 6-8, Duke

C Greg Monroe, 6-11, Georgetown

About The Bucks

After taking a terrible blowout loss to the Pacers in Indiana Saturday night, they returned the favor to the Pistons in Milwaukee Monday night to give them a 6-8 record and a little momentum. They have a huge thing going, which really showed Monday night and that is they have no injuries. Everyone on the team can play which was big problem for the Bucks so far this season. Also Jabari Parker is looking better and healthier in each game he plays which is a great sign to the team and fans alike as many were not expecting this until months later. Jabari’s explosiveness is putting much needed energy in this team along with Giannis’ hot scoring and Jerryd Bayless and OJ Mayo’s hot shooting off the bench.

Bucks Keys To Victory

The Bucks must take advantage of Demarcus Cousin’s absence as the Kings will have a big decrease of offense and defense without him playing. Rookie Willie Cauley-Stein will be starting at center, but he has little to no offensive ability and hasn’t developed yet as a consistent NBA level defender, so the Bucks must seize that opportunity in the paint. Ben McLemore and Rudy Gay are excellent shooters but particularly McLemore is largely inconsistent and the Bucks must make him uncomfortable on the perimeter. The Kings best player this year on the court Rajon Rondo will have a big size disadvantage to Michael Carter-Williams so the battle of the point guard position is crucial for a Bucks win.

This is game fans mark as one the Bucks are a shoe-in to win. One cannot argue with that especially with Demarcus Cousins out but they cannot let the Kings shooting get hot especially off the bench which they will look for to boost energy in the game. If the Bucks can play with the chemistry and energy they did against Detroit Monday it will a fun game indeed to watch and a Bucks victory.

A native of Appleton, Quin Voet is a writer for Cream City Central. A student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Voet covers has written for the UWM Post and the Southeast Wisconsin Sports Beat. He hopes that Cream City Central will be a great place for him to learn and grow in media while strengthening the Bucks fan base.

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